Slightly fewer South Florida homes 'underwater'

Nearly half of all owners of single-family homes in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale metropolitan area were underwater at the end of the third quarter, meaning their homes were valued for less than the mortgages owed against them.

Forty-six percent of homeowners, representing 387,157 homes, were underwater at the end of Sept. 30, compared to 47 percent in the second quarter, according to a new report from Web-based real estate services firm Zillow.com

Nationally, 21 percent of homeowners were underwater as of Sept. 30, down from 23 percent in the second quarter, as home values stabilized in the short term and more underwater borrowers lost their homes to foreclosure, Zillow said.

47 percent of South Florida homeowners underwater on mortgages

As home values continue to show declines compared to a year ago, the percentage of South Florida homeowners underwater in their mortgages grew between the first and second quarter of the year, figures from Zillow.com show.

Forty-seven percent of all single-family homeowners with mortgages in Miami-Dade and Broward were in a negative equity position at the end of the second quarter, meaning they owed more on their mortgages than their homes would likely fetch on the market.

That's up from 44 percent at the end of the first quarter, according to the Web-based real estate services firm. The firm does not do a similar analysis for condo owners.

South Florida home sales increase, but prices fall

South Florida home sales rose in the second quarter as prices continued to fall compared to the same year-ago period, according to a report released Wednesday by the Florida Association of Realtors. In the meantime, more homeowners slipped underwater on their mortgages, putting them at risk of foreclosure, new figures show.

Building on a months-long trend that analysts say is a sign of improved health in the housing market, existing home sales surged by 75 percent in Miami-Dade and 35 percent in Broward as steep price declines, low interest rates and tax incentives continue to drive demand.

In both counties, values suffered. The median sales price fell by 35 percent in Miami-Dade to $195,000 and to $195,500 in Broward. Statewide home sales were up by 23 percent, while the median was off 29 percent to $143,600. The median price refers to the price at which half the homes sold for more and half for less.

Homeowners walking away from underwater mortgages

Andres Duque thought he got a real steal when he paid $125,000 for his Little Haiti condo. But four years later, similar units are selling for $35,000 and even less.

And so, faced with the prospect of being underwater on his mortgage -- owing more than the unit is worth -- for the next 20 years, Duque, 33, made what seemed to him like a rational choice: to cut and run.

He stopped paying the mortgage, basically forcing the lender to take the condo off his hands through foreclosure.

My view: Short sales are being neglected

Is the banking industry and government spending too much time and energy on loan modifications and foreclosures as a possible or final solution for homeowners who can no longer afford their mortgages? Is the real solution of short selling being overlooked? Is America operating under a false sense of security by thinking it can be saved from foreclosure? Wall Street may have rebounded with its government bailout -- for now; but what about middle America? With unemployment on the rise, and depleting personal funds, where is the middle-class bailout? A short sale may be the only bailout for this group to get a fresh start.

The key to fixing our economy depends on the banking industry and government redirecting their focus, and using their power and resources to implement a full-spectrum of solutions for distressed homeowners. Providing a truly transparent and streamlined process for loan modifications, short sales and deed-in-lieu is the only way to dramatically reduce the number of foreclosures and bankruptcies